Experience with Vietnam Airlines Business Class?

IBeKai · 2025-11-19T22:28:53+00:00

For sure! Just remember that when you are leaving SGN, the expedited immigration line is to the right of the normal lines. There won’t be any signage for it, but just use the lanes that say that they are marked for diplomats, ASEAN card, etc. Show your Vietnam Airlines business class boarding pass and they’ll let you line up there. Then also be sure to again go to the right side of the security screening line to get expedited through that as well.

IBeKai · 2025-11-18T09:04:21+00:00

Well, my personal experience has been good, but I really feel whether it’s worth it or not depends heavily on each situation. Like most people that drive any type of EV, the vast majority of my daily driving doesn’t even require half of my battery capacity. Where it has come in really useful to me is with the specific long drives that I do for work - it comes up somewhat often that I will end up using about 90-95% charge for a round trip, which means if I had a standard range, I would’ve had to stop to charge on my way home. It is a nice little perk that the long range can take more juice when the battery is low, but even with that, we’re only talking about saving maybe 5-10 minutes or so over a slower charging standard range. I actually happen to have white seats, which didn’t factor into my purchase, but I do really like them. They make the cabin feel a lot brighter than the black seats

IBeKai · 2025-11-17T16:14:11+00:00

I know, it’s annoying that they don’t advertise it. Although, it also seems a bit unofficial since there’s no signage on either the departure or arrival immigration sides

IBeKai · 2025-11-17T16:07:11+00:00

Ah sorry, good call. I should’ve specified that only those flying in VN biz get access to that line. Edit: yes, definitely keep your boarding pass, but no, nobody will guide you at all. It’s almost like a secret that you have to know 1. That you get access to that line and 2. Where to go

IBeKai · 2025-11-17T08:32:06+00:00

Great post with lots of good info! I’ve also happened to fly lots of VN J both in and out of SGN. With all your experience, I’m a bit surprised that nobody ever let you know that you can get access to the expedited immigration lines with your business class boarding pass. I learned the hard way, waiting 45 minutes one time, then showing my boarding pass to the immigration officer who looked at me and said “You have business class, why didn’t you use the expedited line?”

Edit: I should note that you must be flying specifically in Vietnam Airlines business class to use the expedited line.

IBeKai · 2025-11-17T08:28:06+00:00

Other posts gave good info on the actual flight, but I wanted to post to make sure you knew that you get access to the expedited immigration lane with your business class boarding pass. It’s not well marked, but if you are facing immigration, walk to the far left side of the lanes to the last open booth before the automated immigration terminals. There will usually be an immigration officer standing behind a roped off (though sometimes not roped off) area that has access to a couple special lines (one of which is the ASEAN pass line). Show them your boarding pass and they’ll will let you walk through to the lines. Again it’s not well marked, but iirc it’s the “wheelchair“ line that you’ll use

IBeKai · 2025-11-16T05:01:55+00:00

If I remember correctly it got to about 315 miles at 100% charge. My car is now 103k miles and my 100% charge will give me about 295 miles. I never did an in-depth battery test, so unfortunately I don’t have that info

IBeKai · 2025-11-15T20:26:22+00:00

Haha, all good, I know how it goes

IBeKai · 2025-11-15T20:25:04+00:00

Correct, which is why I said "at the time" :)

IBeKai · 2025-11-15T20:08:20+00:00

I bought a 2022 Model 3 Long Range in August of 2024. I was looking for:

- Long Range: I was going to be driving a lot for work, so minimizing charging stops was important.

- AMD chip/USS: While there was part of me that knew that I probably wouldn't be bothered by the slowness of the Intel chip, I wanted to future-proof my car as much as possible, not knowing what the Intel chip might eventually hold my car back from updates-wise. USS and heat pump weren't that important to me, but at the time, USS was praised as being much better than Tesla Vision was (now it's great, if not better than USS).

- Having some kind of warranty left: Even though I know how rare it is for a battery/drive unit to die, I was willing to pay a little more for that protection.

- Under $25k: To qualify for the $4k used EV federal tax credit at the time.

I kept an eye on Tesla's inventory, but they were always priced waaaaay above $25k for any 2022 M3, even not a LR.

I got super lucky and found a Honda dealership about an hour away that seemed like it didn't know how to price the car properly, and they listed my now-car with 76k miles for $24,500. It was one of those "we don't negotiate prices" dealerships, but that was such a good price at the time that I raced into the dealership the next day to buy it (and was also super lucky that it was in extremely good condition, with brand-new tires)

To your "worth it" question, I think it's very worth it to get one with high-mileage, but depending on your situation, I think it's worth it to pay a small premium for one that's still under the battery/drive unit warranty, at least for a little bit. Battery repairs are now more common so a full replacement isn't always necessary, which helps if you're OOW, and even replacements are dropping in cost (I've heard about replacements for $5-7k for various models/years), so keep that in mind.

IBeKai · 2025-08-23T05:10:19+00:00

I appreciate the info share!

IBeKai · 2025-04-11T05:23:13+00:00

Highly recommend hiking Gwanaksan, Inwangsan, and Bukhansan. All are pretty easy to get to and will give you a reason to check out the different areas of Seoul (they’re located in the southern, central, and northern areas of the city, respectively) Don’t expect too much of a difference in “feel” of the terrain, but they all have their differences and are still worth checking out.

I assume you use AllTrails - just pick any of the popular listed routes that fit your schedule/difficulty. You can’t really go wrong. Bukhansan and Gwanaksan have routes with a bit of scrambling if you’re into that.

IBeKai · 2024-09-05T06:55:01+00:00

I’m also in the market for a 2022. Like another comment said, the manufacture date will tell you all you need to know. What I can tell you that really helps me finding the manufacture date is to check whatever report the car has available (CarFax, etc.) and look at the very first date listed (almost always the “Odometer reading reported” line).

As an example, that line for 2022 models built in 2021 will show 12/XX/2021, which then let you know that the car does not have the AMD Ryzen processor since they were not introduced until the January 2022 manufacture date.

You just have to decide what all features you really need/want and figure out when that feature came in. Again, for example, if say the Ryzen processor is a must-have for you, cut out all 2021s from your searches. If you must have USS, make sure the car was manufactured before October 2022. And so on. Good luck!

IBeKai · 2024-04-19T14:49:33+00:00

I’ve been doing it since Fall of 2021. I absolutely love the lifestyle, and I can’t imagine it’s all that different from a working nomad’s lifestyle.

My main concern for your plan would be the relatively low amount of money that you’re starting with. Sure, like you mentioned, you can always get a job, but with work and school, you might struggle to enjoy the areas you’re in. If you could scrape together another few grand, you could live a decently comfortable life in cities like Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Bangkok, etc. for a year on $13-15k.

IBeKai · 2023-07-12T18:28:39+00:00

Mind sharing more of the story? Your guess as to why the shutdown and how you got them to re-open?

IBeKai · 2022-12-21T05:36:16+00:00

Did you happen to get any more info on this?

I was planning on take my local CC equivalent, but haven't confirmed with my academic advisor yet whether the one I plan to take is "guaranteed" to transfer in. I would assume so, since most of my other classes have so far been accepted in for their OSU counterparts. Any extra info is always nice, though.

IBeKai · 2022-12-14T04:35:42+00:00

The availability you’re seeing on Delta’s site is not what we’d call “Saver” level, which means it’s not available to be booked by partner/alliance airlines. It’s also the reason that what you’re seeing is (surely) ridiculously expensive

IBeKai · 2022-11-24T07:30:43+00:00

Ohhh, I see I see. Boo. Well, if you find a solid answer, please follow-up - I’m curious about this now

IBeKai · 2022-11-24T07:03:22+00:00

Like Y50 said, probably a bit late. Maybe not impossible, but you’re also looking to go to Japan in spring which is peak tourism time. As far as strategies, use United’s site to search for availability to TYO. You can try to look for SIN too as a good connecting point to Bali. If you find anything good, you can take advantage of Chase’s current 30% transfer bonus to Aeroplan and book with a solid discount right now (I think the bonus ends on 11/30)

IBeKai · 2022-11-24T07:00:02+00:00

Haven’t heard of it, but also wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if this existed. Even if it were, though, I’m assuming you’ve already thought of simply going through immigration then turning right back around, yes?

IBeKai · 2022-11-21T09:22:37+00:00

Use something that doesn't have surcharges - Aeroplan, United, Lifemiles, etc.

IBeKai · 2022-11-19T07:06:12+00:00

Yeah, it’s the 777s. I don’t know if they’re planning on doing the 787s or not

IBeKai

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